publicrelations101

Yes, the majority of my blog posts are about the seemingly never ending job search I have been facing since the summer. I am currently working, however it is at Subway. I do not like this job..at all…and so I am still looking for a job in Public Relations, or Marketing or even Event Planning.

Last night, when I got home from work, I applied toa few places. One of is the Holiday Inn. It’s for a front desk person–checking people in and out, making reservations etc, but the do events and shit there sometimes, so that might be a good way for me to get my foot in the door. I had to fill out an online interview when I applied. They asked a ton of questions that required written answers and despite the fact that I filled it out fairly late last night, I think I answered them pretty well, so right now I’m crossing my fingers that I get a call for a real interview with them.

Last night when I got to work, I also spoke to the owner of Subway and asked that I not be scheduled for closing shifts anymore. It’s too hard on me to work that late and then usually have to walk anywhere between an hour and a half to two hours home. We don’t close until 2 a.m. weeknights (and Sundays) and 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturday nights so I generally don’t get home until about 5 or 6 a.m. Anyway, she didn’t realized that I was walking home because I can’t afford cab fare OR how long it took me to walk home, so after this schedule ends (in two weeks) she is going to start scheduling me for days or even evenings…or possibly I might be switched to a different store…which while it would suck a bit (only because my friends work at the same store I’m at now) it would be easier on me for getting home at a normal time, so we’ll see.

I’m still working at Subway (rather unwillingly at this point)…they have me pretty much working night/closing shifts and I have to say I hate it…..immensely…they, as of now, are not paying cab fare home…one of the girls I work with most often and I are looking into whether or not they legally have too…have to call the Labour Board tomorrow about it…plus they ripped us off on our paychecks….we had to stay an extra like 4 hours two Saturdays in a row (didn’t get home until like 8 a.m.) to finish prep and cleaning and all that. They didn’t pay us for that overtime, so am also looking into that and whether or not they have to. We decided, that if they do not want to pay us for the extra time we put in to finish what they want done for Sunday opening shift then we will stay an extra 30 minutes and that’s it.

Anyway, I am still putting out resumes for PR, marketing and event planning jobs…hopefully soon something comes up, because I don’t think I can deal with this Subway crap anymore….am barely making do with the pay I’m getting now and it’s stressing me out so much…not worth it, but I won’t quit until I have something else lined up…or at least that’s what I’m telling myself right now.

It is now 7:30 in the morning and I am just now getting home from work. Tabatha, the girl I worked with last Saturday night and last night  were hoping that this week would be different and we would be able to get home before 7 (which is what time I got home last weekend)…yeah right…first of all we’re one of the only places to get food until 4 am in that area and on a bar night it’s awful…

anyway, our shift started off pretty good…we weren’t too busy and we were able to get some prep done…that all changed at about 11 p.m., when the local crackhead junkie decided to take up residence in our women’s bathroom…we didn’t realize how long he had been in there because by that point we were getting killed with customers…finally at a slow point (one of only a few all night) Tabatha mentioned that the guy’s bike was outside and asked if I had seen him leave….I couldn’t remember, because I had been in the back doing prep and whatnot…we ended up going to check the bathrooms…the men’s room was clear, the women’t room however was locked with the light on, but no one was answering when we knocked or asked if anyone was in there…we couldn’t figure out if he was in there or not, but one of our somewhat trashed customers went back and helped us out…sure enough the junkie was in there and he left very quickly after the considerably larger guy got him out of the restroom…Tabatha went back to check the restroom and found BLOOD…and some other unidentifiable substance all over the floor, the toilet and the sink…she called me back to check it out and unwillingly and regrettably I did so…started gagging…it wasn’t that there was a ton of it or anything, but it stunk and it was gross and quite frankly I don’t get paid enough…so I went back to the prep area and grabbed the restroom cleaner and sprayed the place down, left it and put an out of order sign up…I also called my sister to see if she had advice about cleaning the blood and stuff….figured she has experience in stuff like that, if not from wonderland then from working in a daycare…got some very good advice too I might add

We figured everything would be fine, but at about 2 a.m. some VERY drunk guys came in and it was also around this time that we realized that some guy (not the junkie) was passed out at a table drunk and/or stoned…we thought back and realized he had been there for quite some time…the drunk guys decided to try and help by giving him money and trying to call him a cab and wake him up…he reluctantly did so and the guys bought him some water and had a (sober) friend drive him home…Tabatha and I are still hoping that this kid isn’t going to end up on the 6:00 news as a missing kid…he could not have been more than 15 or 16 and while we weren’t totally convinced it was the best idea for some random guy to drive him home, we didn’t know what else to do, so yeah….

AND THEN…oh yes, there is an and then…around 3:30 two other guys came in…they were joking around and talking with Tabatha while I started to clean the bathroom (finally)…when who should return but CRACKHEAD JUNKIE…he wanted to use our phone to make a local call, but our managers are cracking down on letting people use the phone outside of business calls, so we said no…he threw a bit of hissy fit, but then left and a few minutes later came back this time with a bag and started for the bathrooms again…I was still in the bathroom cleaning and Tabatha was like “Tamara COME HERE”, so I left the restroom and went back to the prep area and we locked the door…the two guys were still there and decided to try and act tough, but Tabatha and I wouldn’t let them get involved…we ended up calling one of the managers Wendy, who told us to call the cops…which we did…they showed up surprisingly fast and took the guy out of the store….meanwhile we were still trying to finish prep and close the store, but we also had to talk to the cops and I had to show the one the bathroom….they advised us to leave it as it was and let the owners deal with it, because of the nature of the situation and because the dumbass guys that were there had started making comments about diseases and whatnot, so we ended up leaving it as it was and leaving a note for the owner and the girl who is opening.

The cops ended up confiscating the junkie’s BAG OF NEEDLES…and letting him go…Tabatha and I made sure the door was locked and kept checking to make sure he wasn’t like outside or anything, because he does know who we are kinda, cus he’s in all the time…

Because of how busy we were we ended up having to stay until 7 a.m. to finish prep and cleaning and closing everything down…and at about 7:30 I walked in the door…on the plus side we each made about 27 bucks in tips….gotta love the drunk people…on another downside apparently the owners have got the brilliant idea to have me close every Saturday if not having me on as a night worker…so not happy at that prospect and if need be, my sleep dr has already said if they keep putting me on nights he will write me a note saying that it is not advisable for me to be working hours like that…seriously it’s screws me over for the whole week and quite frankly I like sleeping at night…

I’ve only worked like 6 or 7 shifts at Subway (still trying to think up some clever name to refer to Subway as…aka. Taco Bell was Taco Hell) and I already hate it with a passion….some of the people I work with aren’t so bad, but other than that I hate it….we wear gloves for everything, yet my hands still smell like subs, even after washing them numerous times, my bag, clothes, hair etc all smell nasty and I seriously gag everytime I have to smell it..not so bad during the day when I’m actually working, but once I leave work, it’s all I can smell and trust me when I say it is not pleasant in the slightest way.

It is very good motivation for finding a  better job in PR or marketing or event planning or something like that…I am hoping to be out of Subway by Christmas or New Year’s at the latest…

Or so I’ve been told…and on top of that I’m a procrastinator…I wonder who I get that from *cough MOM cough*…I was putting off writing a new post for um quite a while…so long in fact that I cannot actually remember the last time I posted  (I suppose I could go look it up, but really what does it matter)…Anyway, I finally got a job…it’s not really a Public Relations job (in the sense that it is a job worthy of 3 and a half years of college)…the job itself is a Sandwich Artist (ha) at Subway..and yes I know that any job is public relations and blah blah blah, but like I’ve said before I did not go to school for 5 years in total and 3 and a half years in Public Relations to work at Subway (or Taco Hell for that matter) for the rest of my natural born life, so yeah.

I am also, obviously still looking for a job in PR or Marketing or Event Planning…something like that…I recently redid my resume and have been meeting with some job counsellor people to get help in finding a job in my chosen field..hopefully by Christmas that will be done, but we’ll see.

Happy now mom? Can I get off the “You Suck” List? Please?

It is really hard to keep updating this blog, especially considering it is supposed to be a Public Relations blog and I am, not for a lack of trying, not exactly doing much PR or anything right now. Still looking for a job, and I am totally at the point where I want a job in anything, doing anything, but alas, still nothing. Although I now have a few really good leads (so fingers crossed)…I applied at this store at the mall on Saturday…I spoke to the manager and he basically gave me a mini-interview on the spot and said he’d look over my resume further and then likely give me a call about the group interview he does, so hopefully that comes through (cus it probably would be a cool job, plus I’d get discounts..lol…ignore that part mom )…and today I applied at a coffee shop and they have a We’re Hiring sign up in the window and when I dropped my resume off, the lady at the counter asked me if I had any coffee shop experience and while I don’t have any coffee shop experience, I do have almost 3 years of food prep experience (thanks Taco Hell…lol), so that sounds like it might be promising too…. Here’s hoping something turns up soon… 

Seriously…why is it so hard to find a job. This is getting to be really depressing. I have been done my placement and school since August 8, and have been looking for a job since then, and so far nothing. Not even an interview…and I know I have a good resume and my cover letters are pretty good too, so what the hell is the problem?I better find something soon, even just some crappy restaurant job or something, because quite honestly I cannot live on the street. I have too many clothes and shoes and this area of the city isn’t exactly the nicest/friendliest area. It’s a little scary in fact sometimes. But hey, there are always cops around…still don’t know if that’s a good thing or not…hmm…mom what do you think? LOL… 

Yeah so I haven’t written in a few days…my bad…anyway I got a letter yesterday from my former college telling me that “On the basis of your excellent results this past semester, your name will be placed on the College Honor Roll.” This news has apparently come as quite a shock to some people, since the general response to them finding out was along the lines of “what the hell?” and “how the hell did that happen?” oh and my favorite response comes from my sister…”it must be an error”…thanks guys..LOL…nah…I was the one that started with what the hells and how the hell did that happens, so it’s all good…a little surprising, but whatever. I’m guessing it has to do with my summer internship, since it does refer to “this past semester” and the internship was technically a semester (paid tuition and all)…and I know for a fact that I did an awesome job this summer…people were very happy with the work I did and I did great on my evaluation, so it’s all good. 

I was trying to figure out what I was going to write about today and not having much luck coming up with a topic. I suppose once I get a job it will be considerably easier to think up topics, but alas I am still jobless so yeah. Anyway, had I actually been following the news lately I might have some opinions about current PR issues to write about. I used to follow the news–it was an unofficial requirement in my classes and reading the paper was one way to pass the hour long bus trip to and from school during the year and during the summer on my way to placement. But now, since I don’t take the bus very often anymore I rarely have time to read the paper (and yes I know mom, I’m not working so I should have lots of time) but we don’t get the paper delivered and it’s a pain in the ass to go and get one.Guess it’s time I smarten up and at least start watching the news on T.V. It won’t kill me to start following the news and with access to the Internet too I really have no excuse huh? Okay off I go to do some research…perhaps I’ll have something more interesting to write about tomorrow. 

My original plan was to have this yesterday, but was too tired to blog yesterday, so it obviously didn’t happen… Anyway, the first installment of “What Were They Thinking” is a story about group work. Last year (school year), one of my classes was an event planning class. Our big project for the class was to work in groups and plan a mock gala event for the Gemini Awards. My friends Tori and Steph and I were working together and that was great, however we were also working with one of the girls in that class that NO ONE ever wants to work with…she’s a pain in the ass and thinks that she knows everything. Tori and I were skeptical about working with her, since we had worked with her on projects before and Tori was currently working on another project with her for another class, so we both knew how stressful it was to work with her. So we started planning the project–who would do the research for what section, when we wanted to have the research done by so we could meet up and put together everything and whatnot. Erin decided to give herself the biggest section to do, and while we were hesitant to go along with it, we decided not to fight with her over it (we must have known we would have to “gang up” against her in the near future or something. A few weeks into the project, Erin called a group meeting to go over what everyone had done to date and to see if there were any problems or anything that we needed to work out. It was at this meeting that Erin decided to tell us, that Tori needed to look into renting/borrowing LIVE swans to have walking around the ballroom during the gala event. This twat seriously thought it would be an awesome and fantastic idea to have the swans walking around with celebrities and various other important people (in their formal wear). Seriously? Did she not know that swans can be effing vicious creatures? Trust me…I know…I’ve been attacked by a frigging swan…not cool. Tori, Steph and I argued with her for quite awhile about this freaking fantastic idea of hers. We all thought it was an absolute ridiculous idea and just asking for trouble. We asked her “how was she going to ensure that the swans wouldn’t attack someone? and How could she keep them from CRAPPING everywhere?   And yes, I realize it was a mock event and actually wasn’t going to be taking place, however due to the nature of the project we had to look at, and plan for everything as if it were actually going to be taking place. We would lose marks otherwise and that would not be good and besides knowing the teacher, the three of us knew quite well that she would not be happy with the swan plan and would think it was a ridiculous idea.  After much arguing (over about a week or so) Tori and finally decided that Tori would inform Erin that she had talked to people about securing the swans for the event and that it was in no way allowed. Tori told her she had spoken to some businesses about getting the swans and that she had also spoken to the contact at the hotel (since we were required to actually get quotes and real information from a number of companies/businesses) and that the contact had basically told her no way, no how.Erin continued to argue, but finally dropped it when we told her that we would speak to Lynn about it if she wanted to see what Lynn’s opinion on that matter was.Seriously, this girl was a freak..and What Was She Thinking? Clearly, she wasn’t…LOL